Ignition system.



C. F. KETTERING.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24' 1912- L Pmentefl July 1;, 1911'.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

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IGNITION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1912.

Patented July 17, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. KETTERING, 0F DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DAYTON ENGINEERING LABORATORIES 00., A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 1'7, 1917.

Original application filed June 3. 1910, Serial No. 564,737. Divided and this application fl1ed May 24, 1912. Serial No. 699,536.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. KETTER- ING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in ignition systems and has among its objects to provide an improved system for controlling the time of occurrence of the spark at the spark gaps, which are provided in systems of this character.

It is particularly one of the objects of the present invention to provide means whereby the time of occurrence of the sparking impulses may be regulated so as to provide the same at the most advantageous time, relative to the various speeds of the engine, to which the system may be applied.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a prcferred form of one embodiment of the present invention is clearly set forth.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic view of my improved ignition system.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional "iew of the distributor. taken on the line 22 of Fig. 3, with the addition of the distributor element.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the timer mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the rotor of the distributor.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the elements comprising the controlling means, certain of theelements being shown in disassembled position.

, veloped into U. S. Patent 1,040,349, which patent in part, shows the devices embodied in the present application.

While the present invention has previously been shown and described as being especially adapted for use in connection with an ignition system of substantially the type shown and described in my patent as desig nated above, it is to be understood that the present invention may be easily adapted for use in various types of ignition systems, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

In the diagrammatic view of Fig. l, the source of electric current which may be either a constant source as a battery or other suitable supply, is designated by the numeral 20, one pole of which is grounded as at 21, while the opposite pole is connected with the primary winding 22 of an induction coil 23, by means of lead wire 24.

This primary winding 22 is connected to a stationary contact plate or element 25 which in turn cooperates with the movable contact element 26, to intermittently close and open the main circuit under operation of the engine actuated timer cam 27. This main circuit is completed through the timer, by means of a ground 29, connected with the conductive plate 28 of the movable contact element 26.

The secondary winding 30 of the induction coil 23 is connected with means for distributing the induced spark impulses to the correct and proper cylinder in successive and recurring sequences.

The connecting means mentioned above, comprise a lead wire 31, which extends from one side of the secondary winding 30 to the main distributing vane 33, which rotates in the direction of the arrow (see Fig. 1) and this distributes the secondary impulses to the terminals 34. 35. 36 and 37 respectively. From these terminals. lead wires 38 extend, connecting the same with the spark plugs of the four cylinders of the gasolene or explosive engine, (not shown).

In the application of which the present case is a division, there is shown and described whatis termed a locking relay or circuit interrupter which is so constructed and arranged that a single spark will be generated for each of the successive times that the main circuit is closed by the actuation of the engine timer.

While the present invention relates to a means for controlling the time of occurrence of the spark. it will be understood that it is not necessary to employ a locking relay in the present system, inasmuch as the spark control mechanism will operate equally Well in practically all ignition systems wherein the ignition circuit is successively opened and closed.

In the present instance, however, I have shown the relay in dotted lines is the diagrammatic figure, and this dotted line structure will now be described.

In Fig. 1, it is shown that the wire 24, leading from the battery, is connected directly with the contact plate 40, which in turn is normally in contact with the cooperating plate 41. Positioned directly adjacent to the plate 40, and so arranged that upon movement relative thereto, the plate 40 will be thrown out of contact with the plate 41, there is a pivoted armature 42, which is controlled through the medium of a solenoid arrangement, which comprises a heavy winding 43, of low resistance, connected with the contact plate 41, through the medium of the branch wire 44.

This heavy winding 43, has a direct connection at its other end with the main line of the circuit. Shunted around this heavy winding 43, there is a fine wire winding 45, of relatively high resistance as compared to the heavy winding which is connected to the main circuit at the points 46 and 47.

The action of this locking relay will be as follows: \Vhen the main circuit is closed. by the actuation of the engine operated timer cam 27, current will flow from the battery 20, through wire 24, contact plates 40 and 41, heavy winding 43 on through the primary winding of the induction coil, through the timer contacts, back to the battery, through the suitably arranged ground connections.

As soon as the core 49, about which the heavy and fine wire windings 43 and 45 respectively, are placed, becomes energized, it will attract the armature 42, into such position that one end of the armature will engage with the plate 40, and thus break the circuit by moving the plate 40 out of contact with the plate 41.

This initial break of the circuit will, of course, generate a sparking impulse in the secondary winding of the induction coil.

Now, in order to generate. but a single sparking impulse for each time that the main circuit is closed by the actuation of the timer cam and timer contacts, enough current is permitted to flow directly through the fine wire winding 45, whereby the armature 42 will he maintained in its attracted position and the heavy winding 43 will remain cut out of the circuit, because of the break between the contact plates 40 and 41. This condition will be maintained until the main circuit is broken by the movement of the engine actuated timer cam 27.

The construction of this locking relay and its various functions has been. clearly described and shown in my U. S. Patent No. 1,040,349.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the mechanical construction of certain of the parts of the present invention, including the timer cam and the distributer mechanism embodied compactly in one piece of apparatus, will be described.

The driving shaft 60, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, is suitably connected to the engine and geared to the proper ratio of movement to operate the timer and distributer in proper cycle as compared with the operation of the engine. This driving shaft 60 drives a surrounding sleeve 61, which sleeve for convenience may be called the distributer shaft, since it carries at its upper end the timer cam 27 and also the distributingmechanism which will be presently described.

The collar 62 surrounds the sleeve 61 and is formed with an annular groove 63 into which groove project rollers 64 (see Fig. 5), carried by the arms of the yoke 65. This yoke may be called the advance yoke since it is operated to advance or retard the spark.

The said collar 62 has extending cen trally through it, the pin 66 (see Figs. 2 and 6), over which fits the slotted end 67 of the driving shaft 60. The said cross pin 66 also extends through the spiral slot 68, formed in the distributer sleeve 61, (see Figs. 2 and 5).

By this means, the rotation of the driving shaft 60 acts through the cross pin 66, to rotate the collar 62 and the sleeve 61, thus rotating the distributer shaft, which in turn carries the timer cam 27.

The change of the time of occurrence of the sparking impulses is effected by changing the relative positions of the driving shaft 60 and the distributer sleeve 61, this being accomplished by oscillating the advance yoke 65 on its pivoted shaft 69, (by means of any suitable lever connections).

The result of thus rocking the advance yoke 65 is to move the collar 62 up or down,

thus moving the cross pin 66 up or down,

within the slotted end of the shaft 60, and also through the spiral slot 68 to rotate the sleeve 61 into different positions relative to the driving shaft 60. This at the same time, of course, changes the relative position between the timer cam 27 and the contact 26 and advances or retards the time of the make and break of the circuit and consequently advances or retards the time of occurrence of the sparking impulses.

The sleeve 61 carries suitable ball or roller bearings 70, at the top and bottom, which are formed with outwardly extending flanges 71, and are locked in position by a suitable'locking nut 72 at the bottom. this arrangement serving to hold the ball retaining or bearing members 73 and 74 in their correct positions.

From the above, the operation of the advance mechanism will be seen to be as follows: The shaft 60 which is suitably driven by the crank shaft or driving elements of the engine, tends to rotate the sleeve til which in turn carries the shaft 79, which 1s pinned thereto by means of the connectlng stud or pin 80. This shaft or spindle 79 has the timer cam and also the rotor of the distributer mechanism secured to it, so that it will be seen that the shaft 60, sleeve 61, the timer cam 27 and the rotor of the distributer will be rotated synchronously.

However, if the yoke member (35, which Is connected to any suitable lever connection, is operated so as to swing up or down, the connections between the yoke ($5 and the collar 62 will tend to move the collar, relative to the shafts 60 and 61, without interrupting the rotation thereof.

It will, of course, be seen that the pin 66, carried by the collar 62, will bear against the faces of the spiral slot 68, formed in the sleeve 61, and cause the same to be moved relative to the shaft 60, thus causing the timer cam 27 and the rotor of the distributer mechanism to be moved relative to their normal rotation, as transmitted by the shaft 60, and also relative to the timer contacts and the fixed conductors of the distributer, respectively.

The distributer mechanism will now be briefly described.

What may be termed the master terminal of the distributer, is connected with the secondary winding of the induction coil, as is shown in the diagrammatic Fig. 1. This terminal post 90 is provided with any suitable conductor which leads to and connects with the vane carried by the rotor of the distributer.

This contact may be made in any suitable manner, but it is shown in the present instance as being a spring contact, that is, a small plunger being normally held in contact with the distributer vane of the rotor, by means of a suitable spring.

The rotor 91 of the distributer mechanism is located in the present instance, just above the timer cam 27 and is made fast to an extension of the distributer sleeve or shaft 61, and comprises a disk made of any suitable insulating material. This disk is formed with a peripheral flange. The center portion of the disk is slightly raised and is adapted to have one end of the distributer vane secured thereto, by means of a screw or other fastening means 92. This vane extends radially from the center portion and engages with a spring plunger contact 93 whlch is seated in a recess formed in the rotor, as at 94.

This contact element 93 comprises a head portion 95 which is normallymaintained in contact making position by means of the spring 96, which is positioned below the contact member.

As has been stated heretofore, the master terminal of the distributer cap 97 is conductively connected with the distributer vane 33 and is also attached to a common wire of the secondary circuits.

The distributor cap 97 is formed with a downwardly projecting ring or flange 98 into which flange project, four pins 99. These pins terminate into the four terminals 34, 35, 36 and 37 and are adapted to have attached to them, four lead wires 38 of the secondary circuit.

At this time, it might be well to state that the description hereinbefore given has relation to engines of the four cylinder, four cycle type, but by slight modifications, to the present invention, the system may be readily adapted for use with engines of various number of cylinders, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present lnvention.

From the above, it will be seen that the contact plunger 93 is rotated together with the rotor, through the medium of the shaft 61 and is held by spring tension against the under surface of the ring or flange 98 of the distributer cap.

The plunger upon rotating, will make contact in turn with the ends of the conducting pins 99, which ends of said pins lie embedded fiush with the surface of the ring, so as to form a smooth but certain contact with the distributing plunger 93.

It sometimes happens that as an accompaniment to the regular sparking in the directly energized spark circuit of the firing cylinder, there may be set up, or caused, in the adjacent secondary circuit, an inductive current, whether induced statically or under magnetic influence of some sort.

If such inductive current arises in this adjacent circuit, it tends to cause premature firing of the cylinder next to be fired. thereby causing improper operation of the engine, and at times producing what has been sometimes termed bucking of the motor.

There is provided in the present instance, a means for dissipating any inductive currents in the adjacent secondary circuits which may occur. This means will now be described.

An advance protective device 102 is carried by the distributer rotor 91 and positroned at about 90 degrees in advance of the distributer vane 33. At least, in such position that when the vane 33 is making contact with one of the secondary contact terminals, the protective device 102 will at the same time be making contact with the secondary terminal next in advance. u

The position of this protective device 102 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the distributer vane 33 being in contact with one secondary terminal, and the protective device 102 being in contact with the secondary terminal next in advance, relative to the direction of rotation of the distributer.

This protective device is grounded in the following manner.

A pin extends through the rotor or disk 91 and is connected to a grounding strip 103 which extends across the lower surface of the disk and is electrically connected with the upper end of the distributer shaft which thereby constitutes a ground connection of this protective device, this grounding being shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1.

Now, if it happens that the distributer vane 33 is in contact with one of the secondary terminals, and the advance or protective device 102 is consequently in contact with the secondary terminal next in advance to the terminal engaged by the distributer vane 33, relative to the direction of rotation of the distributer, and there is an inductive current set up in the adjacent secondary circuit, it will be seen that this inductive current will be dissipated through tfiefground connection with the distributer s a It will be appreciated that if this guard vane 15 not provided, then the inductive current set up m the secondary circuit adjacent to the secondary circuit, wherein the direct and proper spark impulse is generated, will cause a premature firing of the cylinder next 1n advance to the cylinder which is about to be fired.

The protective device 102 thus serves to ground or short-circuit this adjacent secondarycircuit, and thus serves as a means for dlsslpating any inductive current in the adacent secondary circuit. That is, the inductive current is caused to take a path other than through the spark plug of the cylinder next to be fired.

Although the above description has been applied to the four cylinder engine, it will be apparent that this improvement is appli cable to other systems having a different number of cylinders. For example, in the six cylinder engine, this advance vane would be utilized to dissipate the inductive current in the secondary circuit and the cylinder next to fire, which would be the adjacent in point to cycle and operation, although not adjacent as to mechanical location.

It will be obvious that the present invention, which provides for the control and regulation of the time of occurrence of the sparking impulses in the different cylinders in accordance with the speed of the engine, is so arranged that it coiiperatesin the presinasmuch as when the timer camis moved so as to either retard or advance the spark, relative to the normal rotation of the timer cam, the conducting vane and the advance protective device will also be accordingly controlled or regulated.

\Vhile the present invention is especially adapted to be employed in the present system, it may, with equal or greater advantages, be adapted to systems wherein the source of current comprises a magneto 01 other current generating machine wherein no distributer, no locking relay, and the cooperating parts thereof are employed.

While the form of mechanism hereinbefore described is well adapted to accomplish the objects sought, it is to be understood that various other forms may be uti lized, all coming within the scope and spirit of the claims which follow.

1 What I claim is as follows: 1

1. In an ignition apparatus, the combination with a rigid casing having superposed communicating chambers; an ignition timing and distributing mechanism contained in one of said chambers; and means for controlling and transmitting a driving effect to said timer and distributer positioned in the other chamber.

2. In an ignition apparatus, the combination with a rigid casing having communicating chambers; of a timing and distributing mechanism positioned in one of said chamhers; and means for controlling the adjustment and driving of said mechanism contained in said other chamber, said means including a shaft which supports said mechanism; and anti-friction bearings for said shaft positioned in the opposite walls'of' the chamber which contains the controlling mechanism.

3. In an ignition apparatus, the combination with a rigid casing having superposed communicating chambers; an ignition timing and distributing mechanism contained in one of said chambers; and means for controlling and transmitting a driving effect to said timer and distributer positioned in the other chamber; and a head for said distributer mechanism inclosing the chamber which contains the timing and distributing mechanism.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. BoHLEBER, B. R. SANDMAN.

and 

